Abou Samba Ka

When I first arrived in Goudoude Diobe, Abou Ka was my point of contact. He had gone to Thies for a counterpart workshop before I arrived to do a meet and greet. Over the next few months I would eat at his house, run ideas for projects by him, bring presents for his family, meet the local officials, and go to meetings with him.

Unfortunately, he died last Monday, March 9. I was not in the village when he died and it was probably for the best. My host mom called me to tell me and I immediately called my closest female friend in the village to give my condolences, who happens to live at his house.

I was in Thies for the training of the new volunteers and decided against going on the 14 hr car ride back to Goudoude. The people in my village know I'm not Muslim and women are not allowed to go to the cemetery, so it would have just been me sitting with the rest of the village women, crying and wailing.

He was a great father. He would play and joke with his 2 and 4 year-old daughters, which is not the norm for Pulaar men. He was funny, giving, always willing to help me try to get a project off the ground. He was my closest male friend in my village.

What makes this even more upsetting is that his death could have been prevented. He had gotten an infection in his hand, which often happens here. The thing is the infection then spread all the way down his body and, I think, eventually infected his blood, which is what killed him. He went to the hospital, but I think it was too late. They turned him away and gave him a prescription for a medicine the pharmacy had run out of.

In talking with my boss, he thinks what likely happened is that he was seen at the hospital and the doctors determined that it was too late to save him, so instead of treating him and letting him die at the hospital, they sent him home to be with family.

THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY BETTER!

Clearly, I am still frustrated and now want to become a public health nurse even more than before. If I had been more trained in medicine, I would have gladly given him some of the meds from my personal med kit to make him better. If it had happened to me, I would have gotten medicine and been better because I am white and living overseas. It's not fair and I'm going to make sure that something like that never happens to anyone again while I am living in Goudoude Diobe.